Cheap, lightweight mount for 80ED

[Ben Ritchie]

I'm in the process of getting rid of my HEQ5-based 'mobile' setup, but would like a lightweight mount capable of holding a gold-tube 80ED for solar viewing. This is 80-90% visual, but will be used for occasional webcam imaging too. So needs to be

- lightweight, portable, but capable of holding a 80ED

- RA driven (or, at least, the ability to add this) to track the Sun for imaging

- cheap and fairly common, would be looking to buy used

Goto obviously isn't needed! I was thinking the Vixen GPE but the cost there appears to add up when you add motors (?), so suggestions welcome. There are assorted SW mounts, but i'm very unfamiliar with them

[jgs001]

Ben, what about something like a NexStar SLT ? ok it's AltAz, but it's pretty light, driven and tracks well. I've used the Celestron version of the 80ED on mine and managed 45 second subs of DSO's, webcam on the moon was no problem. I'm pretty sure that rawhead has the gold tube 80ED on his NexStar SLT mount, he might be able to comment on how that works.

[John]

The Skywatcher EQ3-2 would be more than up to the job I would have thought - even an EQ2 would probably be OK - they can be driven in RA but not DEC.

John

[beamer3.6m]

How about the Skywatcher EQ2 with RA motor drive.

I think new they are only £80.00 and I sold one a while ago on here for £40.00

[Ben Ritchie]

Thanks guys, some useful ideas there - the EQ2 seems to be about £100 less new than the EQ3 (Bernard has the EQ2 + 'economy RA drive' for £130, and EQ3 with 'multispeed RA drive' for £238).

Should probably have mentioned that my 80ED has a (heavier) moonlight dual-speed focuser and the Etalon is more weight too, so slightly concerned about the capacity of the EQ2. Like the potential price though!

John, does the Nexstar SLT come in mount-only form, or do you do some DIY to remove a 'scope from it? I can only spot it with assorted 'scopes, unless i'm looking at the wrong thing. Alt-Az isn't a major issue as i'm not doing long-exposure imaging, although it introduces a bit of rotation to mosaics too I think.

[jgs001]

I know Rob was selling a NexStar SLT, here. I got mine from ebay with a 60mm frac on it. No engineering needed, it takes a standard dovetail. I'm not sure on the rotation for mosaics... I've not really tried it. I never managed, and still haven't sorted out my webcam and settings. I believe that you can mount the Skymax 127 on the NexStar SLT, I'm sure someone did it, but I don't know how it performed. Matt (SteelRat) has done all sorts of lunar work with his NexStar SLT so it might be worth checking with him.

Ben, just found this from Rob's post...

[TheThing]

How about the Skywatcher EQ2 with RA motor drive.

I think new they are only £80.00 and I sold one a while ago on here for £40.00

Yep, quite a bargin there for someone! I've got a 102mm Startravel mounted on it and it's perfectly stable for that size/weight. I'd imagine an 80mm would be ok too.

[MartinB]

I am on my second Vixen Super Polaris Ben. I sold the first when I upgraded to a GPDX and bought another last year for visual with an ED120. They generally go for around £150 on Astro buy and sell complete with motors. The hand set is the important thing because they are difficult and expensive to replace.

Although small the SP and GP are serious mounts, excellent polar scope and smooth, accurate tracking. The main criticism of the Super Polaris is that it doesn't have a dovetail saddle. The tube rings have to be fitted directly.

I started guiding with an SP using an ED80 and ZS66 side by side.